ESSENTIAL QUESTION: How do we provide students with the opportunities and space to write “sin miedo”? ADDITIONAL QUESTIONS FOR REFLECTION: What does it mean to write without fear? Where does fear come from in the context of writing in the classroom? What kinds of classroom traumas create or worsen this fear? How do we help […]
Tag: writing
What Comes After Mentor Texts? Student-Created Mentor Text Rubrics
I’ve been on a journey this fall to think about ways to move students toward increasing writing independence. We know mentor texts benefit writers of all ages. We know that isolating the moves writers make helps newer, less-experienced writers demystify the writing process and take their own work to new heights. But we also want […]
Four Reflective Activities That Lead to Meaningful Revision
With a new year comes that familiar and distinct habit for many: profound reflection on the last 12 months. We swap out our calendars for new ones, we declare sentiments like new year, new me (partially in jest, partially in earnestness), and we commit ourselves to learning from our mistakes in pursuit of self-improvement. […]
Tools Over Rules: Writing as Choice-Making, not Compliance
In fact, students often think of writing as an act of compliance – follow the teacher’s instruction, receive a passing grade.
12 Writing Experiences for Processing the Election
If our feelings as we approach the election are complicated and anxiety-ridden, then certainly our thoughts and feelings will be equally so in the days and weeks that follow this particular election. If this is true for us, it’s certainly true for our students. The team has been working this week (at Hattie’s inspiration!) to […]
Fostering Risk-Taking During the Revision Process
We all take risks when we need to. In essence, risks allow us to squash the “what ifs,” to feed our curiosity, to discover what’s possible. And of course, they offer us the chance – through trial and error – to strike gold. While there is a time to play it safe and trust what […]
Critical Connections with Ourselves, Our Students, and Each Other
Recently, my friend’s 10 year old son asked: “How is retirement going?” First reaction: ummm…say what now?! But he explained himself: “You are no longer going to teach kids in a classroom, so you are retiring from that.” And he is right…the teaching that I have been doing for the past 15 years is over […]
Organizing Instructional Time
When it comes to instructional time, what matters most is that we organize our plans around a purpose.
Teaching Each Instead of All
My journey (so far) with differentiating writing instruction to meet each learner’s needs.
Three Things I Believe
A tough start to the school year combined with the launch of a new unit created the perfect storm to force me to put into writing 3 beliefs that drive me as an educator.